Chemosphere 303 (2022) 134954 Available online 17 May 2022 0045-6535/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria in boosting the phytoremediation of stressed soils: Opportunities, challenges, and prospects Poonam Bhanse a, b , Manish Kumar a , Lal Singh a, b , Mukesh Kumar Awasthi c, * , Asifa Qureshi a, b, ** a Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 440020, Maharashtra, India b Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India c College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi Province, PR China HIGHLIGHTS G R A P H I C A L ABSTRACT • Microbial-assisted phytoremediation has been emphasized. • Microbial technology could enhance soil fertility and productivity of degraded land. • Advance tools and technologies revealed microbial assisted phytoremediation. • Long term reinvestigation of phytor- emediation technology is desirable. A R T I C L E INFO Handling Editor: Pau-Loke SHOW Keywords: Contaminants Phytoremediation Biotic and abiotic stress Restoration Advanced tools and technologies ABSTRACT Soil is considered as a vital natural resource equivalent to air and water which supports growth of the plants and provides habitats to microorganisms. Changes in soil properties, productivity, and, inevitably contamination/ stress are the result of urbanisation, industrialization, and long-term use of synthetic fertiliser. Therefore, in the recent scenario, reclamation of contaminated/stressed soils has become a potential challenge. Several custom- ized, such as, physical, chemical, and biological technologies have been deployed so far to restore contaminated land. Among them, microbial-assisted phytoremediation is considered as an economical and greener approach. In recent decades, soil microbes have successfully been used to improve plants’ ability to tolerate biotic and abiotic stress and strengthen their phytoremediation capacity. Therefore, in this context, the current review work critically explored the microbial assisted phytoremediation mechanisms to restore different types of stressed soil. The role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and their potential mechanisms that foster plants’ growth and also enhance phytoremediation capacity are focussed. Finally, this review has emphasized on the application of advanced tools and techniques to effectively characterize potent soil microbial communities and their significance in boosting the phytoremediation process of stressed soils along with prospects for future research. * Corresponding author. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, 712100, PR China. ** Corresponding author. Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 440020, Maharashtra, India. E-mail addresses: mukesh_awasthi45@yahoo.com, mukeshawasthi85@nwafu.edu.cn (M.K. Awasthi), a_qureshi@neeri.res.in (A. Qureshi). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemosphere journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134954 Received 2 March 2022; Received in revised form 30 April 2022; Accepted 10 May 2022